Former Merrimack High and Silver Knight standout Mickey Gasper has a lot to smile about as he has made the Minnesota Twins Opening Day roster. (File photo)

Mickey Gasper is back in The Show.

Traded to the Minnesota Twins on Christmas Eve by the Boston Red Sox, Gasper, according to multiple reports, has made the Twins Opening Day roster. He should be with the team when it begins the 2025 season Thursday in St. Louis vs. the Cardinals.

The former Merrimack High School, Bryan University and Nashua Silver Knight standout got the news on Monday, even after he suffered a cut on his ankle after being spiked that reportedly required six stitches to close after a collision in Sunday’s spring training game in Fort Meyers vs. his former team, the Boston Red Sox.

Gasper slashed .308/.417/.487 in 17 games with the Twins this spring and his versatility was evidently a key in the decision. He hit two homers with six RBIs, walked eight times and struck out five times.

It’s the first time the 29-year-old Gasper has made a Major Legue Opening Day roster in his professional career, which began in the summer of 2018 after he was drafted in the 27th round by the New York Yankees.

“I made it, one of the 30 MLB teams in the world,” Gasper told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “When you put it in perspective like that, it’s exciting. Keeps that fire in me going, just to go out and show what I’ve got.”

His favorite position is as a catcher, but with the Red Sox after his callup in August, he saw time at second base and first base, and he can also play the outfield if needed. He played mainly in the infield for the Twins this spring.

“The GM (Jeremy Zoll) told me to bring all my gloves,” Gasper said in January, a month before spring training. “I’m bringing all three, I’m going in there with pitchers and catchers, and I’m going to take ground balls every day along with catching. I’m going to do whatever I can to make that Opening Day roster.”

Mission accomplished. Gasper, as a utility jack-of-all-trades, will likely be an emergency third catcher for the Twins, who had him catch at the end of a few spring training games, according to the Star Tribune, and he was also used as a pinch-hitter.

Gasper, of course, was a popular callup by the Red Sox last August after hitting over. 400 with Triple A Worcester. He failed to get a hit in 13 games played, which were during his original callup and another callup in mid-September after he was briefly sent back to Triple A. Overall for Worcester he hit .402 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 40 games. In 92 minor league games (he started last year at Double A Portland) he had a .970 OPS with 12 homers, hitting .328 overall.

Gasper said when he was in the Yankees organization they needed him to play second base a bit, and “You make enough plays over there, where you’re trustworthy enough, you start getting a chance.”

Gasper, playing in the Yankees system, faced the Twins’ Triple A club in St. Paul in 2023 “so I got a feeling for the cold in April in Minnesota,” he said during the winter.

He was traded to the Twins for lefty reliever Jovani Moran.

“It’s a pretty fresh start, similar to when I got to the Red Sox,” Gasper said back in January. “I’m going in there to make a great first impression, be a great teammate and help the Minnesota Twins win.

“I’m hungry and I have a bad taste my mouth from last year too (no hits in his 13 MLB games). I have a lot to prove.”

If Gasper sticks with the parent club with the Twins, he could be returning to Fenway when Minnesota is in Boston for a weekend series May 2-4. It would be the Twins only appearance at Fenway this upcoming season.

Gasper said back in January all he was thinking about was returning to the big leagues.

“Like everybody, you get a taste for that life, you never want to leave,” he said. “It’s not even close to what you imagined, it’s times 10,” he said. “It’s Presidential. You’re being escorted around. You’re not sitting in traffic on the bus on the way to the airport. The hotels, it’s what you dream of, it’s beautiful.”

Gasper has fit in well with the Twins, according to the Star Tribune. Bench coach Jayce Tingler has called him “kind of an old time baseball player.”

Thursday, whether he’s in the lineup or not, will be a special moment.

“It’s pretty cool, I’m not going to lie,” he told the Star Tribune on Monday. “It’s a dream come true. Everyone wants to play on Opening Day. My goal is to help the team win every single day.

“My parents co are here (in Fort Meyers) right now. I’m sure some more emotions and words to think of will come by once I see them. It’s going to be a cool moment.”